Down to three bikes....

[ducnut]

I just left a small deposit with my bike shop, (Harris Cyclery), to have them bring in a 60cm LHT and a 60cm Raleigh Sojourn both with 26" wheels.  Now it's down to the ride and how I feel I guess.

Great that you have Harris for a bike shop. They'll take great care of you.

As mentioned, some like aerobars. I'm one of them. They allow me to get all weight off my hands and have it be  supported by bone structure. They allow one more seating position. I use a 125 degree stem with the aerobars.

[irc]

As I think I may have mentioned in another thread, I weighed my front and rear panniers and racks and they came to 6kg (not including bar bag).   The weight I've seen quoted for a bob yak is 8 kg so in touring terms, although there is a difference, it's not hugely significant.

Although front and rear Tubus racks and Ortlieb Classic Roller panniers are  around 4.3KG. So that is over 3KG difference. You are saving the weight of maybe a tent,  sleeping bar, and sleeping mat by using panniers instead of a trailer.

For travelling light panniers edge it IMO. If you are going to be hauling a big load anyway then maybe the extra weight of the trailer doesn't matter as much.

[staehpj1]

Although front and rear Tubus racks and Ortlieb Classic Roller panniers are  around 4.3KG. So that is over 3KG difference. You are saving the weight of maybe a tent,  sleeping bar, and sleeping mat by using panniers instead of a trailer.

For travelling light panniers edge it IMO. If you are going to be hauling a big load anyway then maybe the extra weight of the trailer doesn't matter as much.

I also prefer light panniers rather than a trailer, but... There are enough variations that the weight bias can actually go either way.  You could ride a 20 pound bike and pull an Extrawheel trailer and come out pretty light.  I think that the extrawheel can come in at something like 8 pounds if you use a light wheel.  So extrawheel + light bike comes in at less than many touring bikes.